Joseph N. Hermiz
New member
Does anyone have any word as to any prominent guest speakers that are planned for the '09 Convention?
Guest Speakers and Lectures
- Thread starter Joseph N. Hermiz
- Start date
The Panel Discussion on Saturday at 2 pm will include:
ISDP - Michael Youash
US Department of State - Albert Gombis
Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights - Father Keith Roderick
USAID - Ashtar Marcus
Iraqi Christian Relief Council - Juliana Taimoraazy
Please come and ask your questions!
ISDP - Michael Youash
US Department of State - Albert Gombis
Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights - Father Keith Roderick
USAID - Ashtar Marcus
Iraqi Christian Relief Council - Juliana Taimoraazy
Please come and ask your questions!
I strongly recommend people go to this panel discussion. I know Albert Gombis and Father Roderick, you would be surprised how well these Americans know our issues, even in more intricate detail than most of us know.
And of course, Ashtar Marcus is an Assyrian who works at USAID - she will confirm that Assyrian Aid Society and any other NGO cannot discriminate in aid if they receive money from USAID, or they will lose access to millions of dollars, regardless of how we may personally feel seeing an Assyrian Aid organization giving money to non-Assyrians, they are bound by law.
And of course, Ashtar Marcus is an Assyrian who works at USAID - she will confirm that Assyrian Aid Society and any other NGO cannot discriminate in aid if they receive money from USAID, or they will lose access to millions of dollars, regardless of how we may personally feel seeing an Assyrian Aid organization giving money to non-Assyrians, they are bound by law.
Barwarneta
New member
ASHOOR said:
i think they did cause one guy was only speaking arabic which pissed me off cause im a little rusty in arabic and couldnt understand anything and i couldnt tell christin what he was saying :/
i really liked the meetings they were great really liked the one on saturday a lot of info that i didnt know and i think most people didnt know it was great.
The guy speaking Arabic was from ADO. The guy speaking perfect English was ADM (Alan Mansour).
This is the first time in ADO history that the Secretary General was not required to speak both Eastern and Western dialects of Assyrian.
I asked the ADM about our people in Iraq, and what their plans are. The ADM is still - according to them - working on getting our rights enshrined in the constitution, land dispute issues in the north, IDP assistance, and economic development of our areas. He was asked about the situation with the KRG, and his answer was simple: "the ADM is a party of practicality" and they pride themselves in that (actually, they also get a lot of criticism for that, as we expect much more from them than they do). Autonomy is impractical due to the way the law is written, the process to create it, and the population statistics of our people.
The Assyrian General Conference reiterated their desire to get an Assyrian Region like the KRG, and explained that articles 117 and 118 lay out the way to get such a region.
The ADO reiterated their support for autonomy in the KRG.
And the Assyrian Liberation Movement discussed their desire for statehood, eventually, and that we should not dismiss this as a "dream", as it is out inherent right.
There was nothing new said, but the questions were good. One of the audience members asked the ADO, basically, since they are supporting the KDP and Sarkis Aghajan, how they plan to keep the Assyrian nation from being divided, since we know the previous Ba'ath regime in Iraq formed their own Kurdish political parties to counter the KDP and therefore, they divided the Kurds (with the offer of autonomy), and since the Kurds are doing the same thing to us by creating their own political parties to divide us with the offer of autonomy, how the ADO "support" this plan without allowing the same division to happen to our people.
They answered him in Arabic. What was translated to me by my friend was that - he didn't answer the question.
This is the first time in ADO history that the Secretary General was not required to speak both Eastern and Western dialects of Assyrian.
I asked the ADM about our people in Iraq, and what their plans are. The ADM is still - according to them - working on getting our rights enshrined in the constitution, land dispute issues in the north, IDP assistance, and economic development of our areas. He was asked about the situation with the KRG, and his answer was simple: "the ADM is a party of practicality" and they pride themselves in that (actually, they also get a lot of criticism for that, as we expect much more from them than they do). Autonomy is impractical due to the way the law is written, the process to create it, and the population statistics of our people.
The Assyrian General Conference reiterated their desire to get an Assyrian Region like the KRG, and explained that articles 117 and 118 lay out the way to get such a region.
The ADO reiterated their support for autonomy in the KRG.
And the Assyrian Liberation Movement discussed their desire for statehood, eventually, and that we should not dismiss this as a "dream", as it is out inherent right.
There was nothing new said, but the questions were good. One of the audience members asked the ADO, basically, since they are supporting the KDP and Sarkis Aghajan, how they plan to keep the Assyrian nation from being divided, since we know the previous Ba'ath regime in Iraq formed their own Kurdish political parties to counter the KDP and therefore, they divided the Kurds (with the offer of autonomy), and since the Kurds are doing the same thing to us by creating their own political parties to divide us with the offer of autonomy, how the ADO "support" this plan without allowing the same division to happen to our people.
They answered him in Arabic. What was translated to me by my friend was that - he didn't answer the question.
waleeta said:
lol figures. I saw this on the agenda but didn't attend, I figured it would be a waste of time and you pretty much confirmed that W. The only arabic thing would've pi$$ed me off, but then again, same would probably go to an only-english speaking person trying to talk to an all Assyrian audience. Question though, were the questions translated to him or did he understand the English/Assyrian and reply in Arabic?